Chamber Day Adds "Evening"

Popular Benefit Event Adds Dinner at Long Beach Aquarium

The annual Chamber Day event is Wednesday, May 5 this year - - the 11th annual. This event is successful due to massive support from the dive community, including the boats, stores, magazines, manufacturers, clubs, individuals, and the Long Beach Aquarium of the Pacific. Chamber Day is one day when everyone in the Southern California diving community pitches in for a worthy cause.

Chamber Day raises funds to ensure the continued operation of the Catalina Hyperbaric Chamber. Although the Chamber gets funding from L.A. County, they must still raise about 33 percent of their budget on their own. Chamber Day represents the largest single outside source of funding for the Chamber.

Hyperbaric chambers are the only way to treat decompression illness or embolisms that may result from diving. And because our chamber is located on Catalina, it's easily accessible from any of the other islands or even from shoreline beaches. And even though diving accidents are rare, when one happens, the availability of a convenient chamber can be the difference between life or death, or between being paralyzed for life or leading a normal life. Simply put, if our Catalina Chamber were forced to close, a safety net for all divers would disappear.

Your support of this event is so critical. This year, an evening event has been added so that those who can't take the day off can participate and have a good time.

CHAMBER DAY
The daytime event will still be known as "Chamber Day" and runs as it has in the past. Many of the Los Angeles and Orange County dive boats donate their services for the day. You pay $70 for the day with all the proceeds going to the Chamber. Boats leave the dock at 7 a.m. and head for Catalina (some boats can be boarded the night before). You'll get a commemorative Chamber Day '99 T-shirt, a prize drawing ticket (you can buy more), and make 2-3 dives at Catalina.

During the day, your boat will stop at our Catalina Chamber in Big Fisherman's Cove. You'll all disembark for a 45-minute overview of Chamber operations. L.A. County Lifeguards will explain their job, rescue helicopters and crews from the Coast Guard and Sheriffs will be on hand, and the Chamber crew will show you the Chamber itself, including pressurizing the Chamber to a depth of one foot.

Boats will arrive back at the dock between 4:30 and 5:30. Raffle winners will be posted and prizes will be handed out. Last year $25,000 was raised from this event and this year it's expected to do a bit better. Sign up for the event by calling Reef Seekers Dive Co. at (310) 652-4990. Prize drawing tickets can also be purchased in advance, even if you can't participate in the event.

But if you can't do the daytime event (or if you REALLY want to make a time commitment to support our Chamber) . . .

CHAMBER EVENING
This year, in recognition of the fact that not everyone can take a Wednesday off, a brand new event has been added called Chamber Evening to be held at the spectacular Long Beach Aquarium of the Pacific. The Aquarium, along with the Chamber Day Committee, invites you for an evening of food, fish, and fun, also on Wednesday, May 5, from 7:30-11:00 p.m. Because the Aquarium realizes what a vital role our Chamber plays in the overall safety of the Southern California dive community, and because they realize what a valuable contribution the over 100 volunteer divers make to the smooth running of the Aquarium, they are hosting this event at no charge.

A full sit-down dinner will be served (dress casual) complete with prize drawing tickets. During the entire evening, participants will have access to the full Aquarium representing three major regions of the Pacific. In case you didn't know, the Long Beach Aquarium of the Pacific is the only Aquarium to focus solely on the Pacific Ocean. It's going to be a very special evening, and one that's appropriate for divers and non-divers alike (so you can bring along your non-diving Significant Other and he/she can share the excitement of our sport).

Cost is $75 per person. (If you do both the daytime and evening events, the total cost will be $125, instead of $145.) Seating is open but if you've got a commitment of 10 people, a table for your group can be reserved. Seating is limited.

As with Chamber Day, Chamber Evening tickets can be purchased through Reef Seekers simply by calling (310) 652-4990. Just let them know how many tickets you want and how you want to pay.

WHY WE DO THIS
A lot of time and effort goes into Chamber Day because it's worthwhile to have our Chamber available to us. During any dive accident, getting the diver to our Chamber alive means that he/she has an excellent chance of survival and full recovery. The Chamber is simply an invaluable safety net that we don't want to jeopardize losing. And your participation in Chamber Day and/or Chamber Evening, will help ensure its future.

Ken Kurtis is co-owner of Reef Seekers Dive Co., a dive store in Beverly Hills and is chairman of the Chamber Day Committee. His articles have also been published in a number of dive magazines.